Up and Down
by gioalle1
Summary: Emma Swan and elevators. So many problems between them, since she saved Henry from the mine, or when she was stuck on the elevator in the Stoybrooke Library. But trouble always comes in three. And this time she won't be alone.
1. Chapter 1

N/A: not beta'd, as usual, mistakes are mine, but OUat is not. Just one of my random writing experiments trying to change usual style and genre. And not a one-shot, for once. English is not my first language.

—-

Another boring day in Storybrooke.

Emma Swan had to admit she sometimes missed some action, back in the Enchanted Forest, and the unstable equilibrium of her normal life in the little town in Maine was not sufficient to give her some unusual emotion, some thrills. Maybe some goose bumps once in a while.

Formality and ordinary work on some documents created her routine. Coffee during the day and sometimes a beer at night created her physiological needs routine.

Long story short, Emma missed to kick some asses, but she was perfectly aware that tranquillity and an equilibrated domestic environment were a luxury she had never had and, no matter how ordinary her life had become, that was what she was defending, at that moment.

Bureaucracy and paperworks meant also trying not to kick a particular ass, Regina Mills' ass; the former Evil Queen, former Madame Mayor, but definitely not-former bitch was still walking around the rooms of the City Hall trying to help the new mayor surviving the financial mess created by the partial destruction of the town operated by Emma herself, Cora and the Charmings. Who were also the new mayor and deputy mayor.

Regina found this new distribution of powers quite disturbing and her rage could easy occupy the whole broom closet they gave her as her new office. At least, she was lucky she could use the elevator.

Four floors. 7 minutes to go from the first floor to the fourth, where her office was. It usually took less amount of time taking the stairs, but the stilettos mixed with those forty binders definitely needed the elevator.

Emma didn't even know that the City Hall had an elevator; not that she would avoid it, but one of the things she learnt in her recent life was that elevators or similar mechanical _contraptions _were not her thing. She remembered the mine, with Henry in danger. Or the Library, when Henry was in danger. _If only the kid could be calm for 5 seconds._

But four floors and the amazing contribution stairs could give to her bottom in terms of tonicity didn't win in front of some lazy elevator giving her more time to repeat again and again in her mind _how gentle would have been from Regina to give up on her friday dinner with Henry because of a three-day trip in Boston she had planned with her son_.

But, accidentally, they met in the elevator, screwing Emma's internal monologue and Regina's stability with 40 binders.

"Miss Swan"

"Regina"

"Up or down?" asked Regina, coldly.

"Down. Basement. Definitely not where your office is" was the confused answer Emma could murmur.

"Fine. I'll go up first, since I have a lot of work to do. Then you can go wherever you need to run away from me and _not asking what you're avoiding to ask_".

But suddenly, all that Emma could do was to push the elevator button bringing her in the basement, a place she didn't even know it existed but it would have been perfect since she didn't have to stay in the despised elevator. With Regina Mills.

Exactly in the same moment, all that Regina Mills could do was to push the button with the number four written on it, just because she wanted to win. Especially against Emma Swan.

The elevator started to move. And it made a worrying amount of crackling sounds. But with Emma's immense joy, it started to go down. She won.

She had been faster, more clever and wiser.

Luckily for her, Regina could just roll her eyes and wait for the moment Emma would run away. Silently.

But the elevator stopped not-so-silently and both women almost fell down after the impact.

Just a rapid stare and a useless attempt to open the doors.

_They tried. Oh, they tried so much to open those doors._

But they were stuck in there.

Together.

Emma Swan and her fear of elevators.

And, of course, the former Evil Queen, former Madame Mayor, but definitely not-former sexy goddess Regina Mills.

_- Tbc_


	2. Chapter 2

_N/A: I don't know exactly what to say in front of all the likes/favorites to this story, but a huge __**thank you**__. In this chapter I tried to use more dialogue, to obtain a better interaction between the main characters, while the beats conducting the rhythm of the plot follow the suggestion of the title, mixing a bit of romance with some humor/sarcastic tone. Hope you enjoy! Reviews are always precious!_

_Not beta'd, as usual, mistakes are mine, but OUat is not. English is not my first language._

* * *

"I can't open those fuckin' doors". Emma was punching the air fighting against invisible mosquitos, while Regina maintained her usual demeanor, watching the light illuminating the elevator button, like it was mocking her.

"I can see it, Miss Swan".

"You've got to be fuckin' kidding me"

"You're wasting air, Miss Swan". Regina Mills tried to be the one being rational.

"We're. Stuck. In. Here." Emma needed to hear that statement, just to point out how she could find herself _again_ in a ridiculous situation without escape.

"Ladies and gentleman, Sheriff Obvious". Regina put her binders on the ground.

"Stop wasting air, Mills" That was said with the best furious glance Emma Swan could've ever delivered.

"Does someone suffer from elevators phobia, Miss Swan?"

"No, I'm allergic to former mayors, actually".

Sarcasm hadn't been enough, for Emma. So frustration happened.

"God, you're not even worried by this thing?"

"No, Miss Swan, I'm not. I'm just succumbing to my punishment for all the wrong things I've done in my life". Regina Mills, _the face of resignation_, had spoken. "They say I'm evil, and that I'm a murderer. So I hope this torture of being stuck in here with you could allow me to expiate my guilts, once for all".

"Great. So, while you try to reach a proper level of holiness, I'll try to call someone who can help us, ok?!"

Regina's flick of the wrist was the only answer Emma could obtain, but the sudden realization that both the phone on the elevator and her mobile were out of order hit the blonde Sheriff.

"No signal, Regina"

"Predictable, Miss Swan".

It wasn't time to give up for Emma Swan and her elevators phobia, yet. "Couldn't you just magic us out of here?"

"Well, I could, if only your genius parents didn't take away every bit of magic I had – and I quote - _for our daughter's safety_".

"So, it's a no?"

"You're so perceptive sometimes, Miss Swan"

"Call me Emma, please. It will waste less oxygen". And after that unexpected request, Emma simply sat down on the floor, near the binders.

One minute of complete silence.

Two minutes of complete silence.

Regina knew that reaching _minute number three of complete silence _would have been almost a miracle; in fact, Emma suddenly grumbled, watching absent-mindedly her feet. And then Regina's bottom, but just for a couple of unsuspecting seconds.

"So...how's your job going?"

"So...Miss Swan, how's your perfect family going?"

"Ok, got it. No personal questions."

_Attempt of conversation number one: failed. _

_Another check to Regina's bottom: done. You go, Swan._

"Are you going to sit, sooner or later, or do you plan on staying rigidly up until someone opens that door?"

"Someone should know we're here. They can ignore me, but they saw you entering the building. It's just a matter of minutes and someone will get us out of here".

"Meanwhile you can sit, maybe..."

"No, thanks"

_Attempt of conversation number two: failed._

"Really, Regina, you should sit. I cannot stop staring at your ass. Please".

Regina eventually turned her head toward the sheriff, inspecting Emma's eyes.

"Great, stuck in an elevator with an aroused Savior. Didn't know my sins were so horrible".

"I'm not aroused Regina, I'm just speaking with someone who doesn't even bother to watch me in the eyes". _Good move, Sheriff Clever!_ Emma Swan mentally congratulated herself on her own _fake _offended tone, demonstrating once more that Storybrooke didn't lower her IQ. And she was also the Savior, so she found some bravery to keep going with her serious tone.

"I know that staying together in the same room is almost impossible, not to mention we're actually in an elevator, now. Which is worse. And I don't like it too, but we're adults, so-"

"Ok, ok- but just stop talking like an actual adult Miss Swan...you're frightening me. Look, I'm sitting down, right". And even if Regina Mills filled her sentence with sarcasm, Emma Swan eventually obtained what she wanted.

Regina Mills was sitting next to her.

_And the second step was now trying not to watch her legs._

"It's pretty hot, here". Emma stated out of nowhere, ignoring the subtext.

"_You _broke the curse. _You_ brought summer here in Storybrooke. Don't blame me, Miss Swan"

"Really?! You're saying that the normal cycle of seasons in Storybrooke is actually my fault?"

"I loved winter, so I planned to froze my town in a winter cold day. My closet didn't contain a single summer dress, actually. I had to buy them, and I might also say you owe me a lot of money, at this point".

All that Emma could do was smiling. "Not with my pay. You know, having my mother as mayor, unexpectedly, didn't help me with my request for a pay raise".

"I didn't vote for her, if it helps..."

_Attempt of conversation number three: huge success._

Maybe it was their new settlement, their unexpected comforted position on a floor of a broken elevator, or a slight resignation that this situation would last longer than expected, but in that exact moment, they both smiled. Real smiles.

"What do you think Archie would say if he was here?". Silence had been the only answer coming from the former mayor. A few words were pronounced a couple of minutes after.

"Something like _'Miss Mills, what are you afraid of?'_..." Regina regained again that smile, mimicking Archie's shy voice.

"Well, dear Mr. Bug", started Emma, impersonating the brunette sat nearby, "I'm afraid that pink will be the new black – and you know how black looks good on me..."

Regina pretended to be offended by the imitation, but Emma could feel she was enjoying it. A lot.

"Also, I'm also afraid of losing the contest for 'Best lasagna of the year' since I'm practicing a lot and, even without magic, I'm fuckin' good at it"

Regina nodded, pointing out that Emma was absolutely right, but probably cursing wouldn't have been her style.

"And number three..."

A strange sparkle in Emma's eyes emphasized a dramatic pause Regina couldn't quite understand.

"_..._I'm really afraid Emma Swan likes me. A lot. And she wants to ask me out"

Regina's inner walls collapsed; she could hear sirens and alarms in her head.

She couldn't move a single muscle; not a single change in the way she was devouring Emma's eyes.

Rage. Confusion.

Or a statement that was simply _true_?

Thirty seconds after, it was already too late to deny.

_Did she really like this annoying woman?_

Emma felt enough courage in her veins to sustain the shocked gaze of Regina Mills. And also the confused one the brunette delivered a few seconds after. Maybe she screwed everything, revealing through her poor mental trick something she had been felt for long. Something blocking her when she had to talk to Regina, or to go to her office, or to drive Henry to her impressive mansion for their friday dinner.

Maybe she did screw everything.

_Or maybe not._

Regina Mills, the former mayor, former Evil Queen and breathtaking scent in-charge, was still sitting next to the blonde.

Emma Swan was actually still alive; any attempt of violent homicide hadn't been performed, _yet_.

Until Regina Mills _royally_ stood up and started to scream, beating _not-so-royally _her fists on the elevator doors.

"Move your fuckin' asses, you peasants, and get me out of here, for God's sake!".

_Panic, they call it._


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks again for the amazing reactions to this story. I'm overwhelmed, really!_

_It took me a lot to write this chapter, and I'm sorry, but again I tried to mix romance and funny moments in a balanced way, with a decent english language. Hope you all enjoy my attempt to survive the hiatus (and the Regina-centric painful promos...)! _

_Not beta'd, as usual, mistakes are mine, but OUaT is not._

* * *

"Get me out of here!" Regina's vocabulary suddenly had been reduced to five words. She couldn't say anything else.

Emma was dumbfounded. Just about 20 minutes before, she was the one freaking out, dealing with her recent elevator phobia, mixing with former-mayor phobia, mixing also with a couple of ridiculously sexy legs kicking those elevator doors.

"Do something, Miss Swan..." Emma surely wasn't expecting herself to be involved in this new plan named _Make some noise with Regina Mills and try to make yourself hear._ At least, not in the sense of being stuck in the elevator and screaming to the point when someone could save them.

_Ok, ok...mental slap on the face for you, Emma._ _No more dirty thoughts._

"Regina, calm down. Someone is going to notice our absence...we're been here for 20 minutes..."

Regina was still ignoring her, striking the doors with her Louboutin.

"And that's definitely a great plan, Madam...ruining expensive shoes to save your ass. Shoes that probably cost more than this elevator itself". Emma's new attempt was based on Regina's sense of fashion, hoping to hit a sensitive topic.

_But mostly, when did the former mayor take off her shoes? _

_No, no, do NOT focus on her bare feet, Swan!_

_Feet?_

_Where the hell is the other shoe? Magic black holes in the elevator. Great!_

Emma wasn't someone particularly skilled when it came to shock management, or concentration management. And Regina Mills wasn't helping.

So she simply decided to take Regina's face on her hand, establishing a very intense eye-contact and, with a voice surprisingly calm and inflexible, she stated "Stop. Screaming. Just. Stop."

Regina couldn't exactly decide if she should keep on screaming because of her fear of dying in an abandoned elevator, because of the sudden urge of hitting Emma Swan with an expensive french shoe or because of the thrill that those hands,_ Emma's hands_, were giving her, now that they were on her cheeks.

"Stop it, this behavior is not helping. We will get out of here, I promise you...but stop freaking out, Mills."

"But..." Regina tried to complain.

"Shut up"

"But we..." Regina was stammering. Emma wasn't losing eye-contact, not even for a second.

"But if they don't..." A lot of things could have been said about Regina, except that she wasn't a tenacious person. Unfortunately for her, Emma was, too.

So tenacious that she wanted so badly to shut Regina up. So badly that...she had to place her lips on Regina's. Just for a few seconds.

"Apparently", Emma told the brunette, "eye-contact is not enough for you"

Lip-contact was definitely a better option.

Maybe.

Because now she had to deal with someone with elevator phobia AND Emma Swan phobia.

Regina couldn't speak. Once Emma was back in her original position, a few inches far from her face – from her lips – the brunette couldn't even start to rationalize what had just happened to her.

She could still feel the blonde's mouth on hers, Emma's cold nose brushing against hers, Emma's hands trembling slightly, losing for one second the grip on her face.

It was too much.

It was nothing.

It was...

"What was that, Miss Swan?"

"I'm pretty sure I can find a definition on Google, if you need it". Emma's hands were still there, cradling Regina's face.

"Are you upset?"

"Yes, indeed I am."

"But you stopped freaking out, anyway. Fight fire with fire, they say..."

"Miss Swan, you're saying I should also thank you for that k-"

"Regina, I can assure you this was _not _a kiss..."

"I guess it was just an attempt to ease the situation, then."

Silence. Eyes devouring every inch separating them.

"Regina?"

"What now?" They didn't dare to move.

"Can I take Henry with me for a three-day trip to Boston, next Friday?" Emma could barely breath. Every word had been pronounced without a pause. No air in, no air out. Bomb dropped.

Blurred vision? Yes, d_efinitely_.

_But how could Regina look so stunning even with blurred vision?_

"Sheriff, what do you think you're doing? First you go crazy, then you make me go crazy, than you kiss me..." The brunette's eyes became darker. And raging.

"It was barely some lip-contact..." Emma interrupted.

"...and you asked me out..."

"Technically I was _mimicking_ you..." Emma interrupted again.

"...everything just to steal the only day I share with my son?!" Regina's question froze Emma all of a sudden.

Regina's eyes expressed that kind of violent rage Emma had hoped to avoid during all her recent life in Storybrooke, mostly because it was strictly connected with the figure of the Evil Queen, which was definitely too much too handle.

Even if she was left without magic.

Even if she wasn't wearing those stunning, elaborate and majestic dresses she saw on Henry's book.

And maybe it was because of the book reminding Emma those evil dresses, or the vague sense of claustrophobia still on her veins, or Regina's scent invading even more her nostrils, Emma Swan found herself on the verge to say sorry.

But, instead of actually saying it, she went for a more persuasive way.

A way which was _not so new_ for Regina: lip-contact, _again_.

The two women found themselves again with their lips touching, and their minds admitting that that couldn't be a kiss; seconds passed and the shyness inherited from the first contact from a couple of minutes before was passing, too.

Lips were timidly dancing, Emma's thumbs started again to caress the former mayor's cheeks, rationality was fighting against the urge of closing their eyes because _that_ would have definitely been the sign of a real kiss.

Emma liked very much this way of _not kissing_ Regina, of _not _touching her skin, of _not_ trying to break the thin cold ice around her heart, but it was the brunette who was the first to step back and break physical contact.

"So, every time you say something improper or offensive, you end up kissing your interlocutor? That's how you solve things, Miss Swan?"

Regina perfectly knew how to stab someone only with the plain use of words.

Emma couldn't lose this fight. "And again, don't flatter yourself too much. First, you were freaking out again. Second, that wasn't even a kiss..."

"I forgot, lip-contact, right...". A few seconds were actually needed to catch again some vital breaths of air. Both definitely craved for them. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question: the lip-contact...it's your usual strategy when cornered or I'm the only one owing this privilege?".

"If, and let me underline the word _IF, _this was a real kiss you would've notice the difference".

Emma felt a strange vibe all over her veins; a quiver invading her body and her mind giving her the strength to go _all in, because it's now or never _and another ton of stupid idiomatic expressions that could have been useful to give her some courage.

"I may not be a good sheriff, but about being a good kisser, well, there's no doubt about that."

_Had a challenge officially been opened?_

"What's so special in your technique, Swan?"

In a couple of seconds the elevator seemed too small for both of them and maybe the oxygen levels were really decreasing. Temperature was high, figuratively speaking or not. That was a dangerous game and the setting was not helping. Consequences to every action potentially taken by one of them, or by both, could have been fatal.

And disastrous.

"Those hands I still have on your face, Madam, would first reach your chin and than your neck, traveling slowly to study your skin...to feel the reaction of your muscles and the accelerated rhythm of your pulse point, according to my technique".

Regina could barely blink. Emma's movements were actually following her description. She could feel her fingers tracing invisible lines, going from her cheeks to her neck, just like when you draw imaginary constellations in the sky, almost touching the stars.

Emma was just at the beginning.

"My procedure is based on three...

_A kiss on Regina's neck. Soft and simple._

"_..._easy..."

_Another kiss on Regina's neck._

"...steps."

Emma regained her original position, which was, as usual, an invasion of the former mayor personal space. Regina didn't dare to react.

Regina Mills, for the millionth time that day, had no idea of what to do. Emma's voice was a spiral of confusion, dressed with smooth silk, driving her senses without a logic.

"First: hesitation". A pause. "Everything should start tentatively, especially with someone like you..."

Emma's hands started to lightly touch Regina's hair, moving a black lock behind her ear. They were breathing the same air, lips almost touching again and a timorous caress exploring again the back of her neck.

"Second: memorizing the feelings". Emma's voice was just a whisper and every word she pronounced tickled Regina's lips.

"The way you move in such a little space, the reaction of your body every time I speak..."

Emma Swan's hands found a new horizon touching the brunette's shoulders, at first, and then going down until their fingers intertwined for a couple of second. Not more.

"...I want to understand what you want, what you _would _do and what you _can_ do. Here. Despite the heat, the lack of air or the fact that you can't stand me..."

Emma Swan lost every kind of fear towards Regina Mills in that exact moment. In front of _the former mayor_, _former Evil Queen_ and _breathtaking scent in-charge_, she realized she had never been afraid of her.

She was afraid of what she might have felt with her. _For her._

The brunette realized she desperately needed to talk, to establish again a proper equilibrium of powers between them. But everything she was able to say was "Tell me something about that third phase, Sheriff..."

Emma proved again to the universe that she was a woman of action; she left her fingers playing with Regina's, titillating her palms, and she simply started to kiss her, like there was no more air in the elevator and kissing the older woman was the only possible way to survive.

Lips had met again, mouths were dry but hesitation and shyness weren't anymore cards to play for that game. Emma's mouth was open enough to welcome Regina's demanding tongue, and they soon found the right rhythm, the music, the magic.

Emma was the one breaking the kiss, searching for air, but she found herself smiling when she realized Regina was there, motionless, with her eyes closed.

"You won't push me away like you've been burned by the contact...and we definitely aren't going to say sorry, because the third phase of my procedure...

_Another soft kiss of Regina's mouth._

"... is to make the first two steps short, leaving you wanting for more"

_One more kiss, taking away the last trace of lipstick on the former mayor's lips._

"Am I hearing bells, Miss Swan?" Could Regina have turned to be such a romantic woman only with a bunch of kisses?

"Maybe..." Answered the Sheriff, still enjoying the luxury of feeling Regina's body pressed to hers.

"No, Miss Swan" An unexpected movement made Regina regain her composure.

"I'm really hearing the bells. I think it's your cell phone!".

"Do we have the signal back?" Emma was shocked. And happy. But mostly still aroused from what had happened before.

"Are you going to answer or not?" Regina's question left no place for hesitations.

"You tell me, Regina. Am. I. Going. To. Answer?". That intriguing gaze, again. That low and seductive voice, again.

_Another kiss._

They were still holding hands. Even tighter.

Both bodies were closer, again.

Regina spoke.

"No, Emma. You're not".

_-tbc-_


	4. Chapter 4

Ouat is not mine, but mistakes are. Not beta'd, as usual.

I'm sorry for the embarrassing amount of time I needed to write this chapter, but my muse, my job and my forthcoming wedding find it hard to share their time with my Swan Queen feels.

* * *

Emma's ringtone accompanied their kiss for a while, then it faded away.

They found themselves in an alternate dimension in which that kiss they shared was pure perfection, an absolute logic consequence of hands moving which eventually found a proper place, of mouths which finally found the perfect concept to communicate without using a single word.

Sharing that kiss, in that strange situation, was like being teenagers again; one of them teaching to the other what kissing meant, what feeling dizzy meant, what kind of inner physical struggle can be created knowing that both of them will soon need some air, but either won't be brave enough to stop the kiss.

Frantic, but respectful, the kiss became a dance where mouths rhythmically moving were just a part of the game; touching and exploring had become something natural whey both could do without asking for permission.

Teenagers, but also adults, knowing what you can lose if you don't play it well.

Eventually their lips parted, even if they weren't ready. Regina's hands were in Emma's hair, while the braveness of the blonde made her caressing Regina's left hip with her hand. A very convinced and dedicated touch.

Emma smiled.

Regina kept her stare fixed on the sheriff's eyes, slightly tilting her head.

"Hi" said Emma, with the face of someone who has a lot of things to say but is just able to come out with a monosyllabic word. Prosaic, but cute.

"Hello to you, Miss Swan. Are we back to introductions?"

"Still nervous about your elevator phobia?"

Silence.

"I liked you better with curly hair"

"I liked you better when you were kissing me, but we can't have all we want"

Emma's phone was now silent and both women, despite the dizzy atmosphere in the elevator, acknowledged that they basically missed an opportunity to be saved.

_Be saved from what, actually?_

The blonde took the phone with her right hand, leaving the left still on Regina's hip. Abandoning the conquered space on the brunette was definitely out of discussion.

"No signal, again" Emma stated. Without the slightest sense of sadness.

"Then we'll just have to wait and find something to do" was the immediate response Regina Mills gave.

Emma had just a couple of seconds to realize how actually silly had been her "hesitation" phase, because she definitely had a couple of ideas about _what to do _with the former-mayor, and _how to do it_, but she found herself quite surprised when Regina's hands left the softness of Emma's hair.

Still without her shoes on, Regina Mills elegantly sat on the ground, leaving a dumbstruck Emma enjoying the increasing sense of superiority her height had given her, already noticed by the younger woman even during their kiss.

Everything Emma could do was following the brunette, sitting close, in front of her, still dangerously near.

Something in Emma's pocket made a strange noise Regina couldn't recognize, but it took Emma just a few seconds to put her hand in it and grabbing a little plastic box.

"Want some?"

"Are you offering me a Tic Tac? How silly has been from me thinking we would've died here, starving to death".

"Want it or not?" asked Emma again. And wondered how it was possible to like that annoying woman so much.

"You started with offering a dinner and now we're sharing a Tic Tac. How peculiar..."

Emma Swan smiled. "You haven't accepted my offer for a date, _yet_. I thought it would've been wise to lower my expectations..."

Regina took a couple of mints.

"...not that you need those, of course..."

Regina delivered her most fake offended stare.

"Thanks"

"Told you I was a good kisser" Emma winked.

"Thanks, _for the Tic Tac_" specified Regina.

"You're welcome. Also for the Tic Tac"

Emma had always found some difficulties on keeping conversations active and interesting, especially when she realized she felt way better when Regina's body was pressed to hers, when hands were frantically running through her hair, when her mind couldn't get enough of her scent mixing with the brunette's tongue caressing her lower lip.

The idea of becoming familiar with that woman, of knowing every little inch of her body, every reaction, anticipating her needs and wants was something definitely intriguing.

Breaking her walls, understanding her, getting to know her was something definitely harder.

Confidence, or at least pretending to own that attitude with Regina Mills, was something almost impossible to sustain.

"You think you know me, right, Emma Swan?"

Emma tilted her head, trying to study Regina's new initiative. Despite their new position, sitting one in front of the other, Emma could still feel some sense of inferiority towards the brunette. Even if she wasn't wearing her stilettos. WIth her arms crossed and leaned on her knees, and her chin laid on her hands, Emma Swan was ready for Regina's new attack. Pretending to be confident, as usual.

"You think that reading that book has given you access to some kind of hidden part of me? You believe that I'm here, waiting for someone new, ready to manipulate me again?"

This sudden change of tone was more than expected, but Emma began to understand that being gentle with Regina Mills always implied a certain degree of suspicion from the woman.

"You might also take me out, bring me flowers I love, order my favorite food and wine…"

"Stop it, Regina" Emma whispered, with a shade of frustration.

Regina ignored Emma's request.

"…you may also be careful with me, not asking a single think about my past, about the person I was before or what led me to be the person I was when you first came to this town…"

"Is this the moment when you become verbose because you're nervous?"

Regina grumbled, and Emma took it as a_ yes_.

"I like you. I liked you when I first saw you. I like you today and considering the fact that I kissed you at least a dozen of times, I don't think you need more evidences…" Emma tried to fight Regina's frustration with a good amount of simple, unshakable logic.

"I thought we were people who didn't believe in fairytales anymore, Sheriff"

"We can start believing in dates, Miss Mills"

"People would talk about us. People won't accept this twist in our lives. Not to mention your mother, your father and about half of this crazy town's desire to torture me, then kill me, then torture me again…"

"You underestimate the importance of dating someone who is called The Savior". Logic, unshakable logic. Again.

"You overestimate the appeal of dating someone who is called The Evil Queen". Regina Mills started to doubt her ability of winning this conversation against Emma Swan.

"You're just Regina Mills, to me". Emma couldn't sound more sincere

Regina glanced down to avoid the intimacy Emma was so eager to find. And also to prepare herself for words which were forming uncontrollably on her throat, fighting to be pronounced.

"And I'm afraid that you, to me, could be someone I would cast a curse for, if things go wrong…"

Just like 29 years ago.

Just like when she lost her stable boy, her love.

Just like when she lost herself, and her ability to love.

"Then save this world, Regina Mills, and accept my offer for a dinner together".

Emma Swan tried to hide her shock after Regina's admission with another simple phrase, pretending there was no magic, no curses, no strange alternatives of fairytales populating their lives. Just a world where an Evil Queen, beautiful as a princess, could be able to find her happy ending with a White Knight with long blond hair and a peculiar attitude when it came to the choice of leather jackets.

The flow of thoughts in the minds of the two women, who spent at least five minutes in complete silence, was interrupted again, like when their kiss had been stopped by Emma's phone ringing.

Their silent conversation, their sharing of naked admissions had found again a new interruption.

Snow and David were screaming, calling Emma's name. And a certain amount of embarrassing nicknames like _Em_, _sweetheart_, _honey_, _princess_ or other words Emma found too painful to memorize.

"We're going to free you in less than a minute, Emma!"

They knew that Emma Swan and Regina Mills were there, trapped in that elevator, trying not to kill each others.

If only they also knew their daughter, and maybe also Storybrooke former mayor, would have payed all the money of the world to have more than a minute, more that 60 seconds brutally running, stealing the remaining chances for some sarcasm, some fight, some direct confrontation.

Or laughters, or tears, or fists and expensive shoes hitting that door that now was about to be opened.

A door that they both wanted to stay close, just for little more time.

"We're here. And we're fine, don't worry..."

Regina and Emma were almost sure they heard Snow saying something like "Oh lord, I'm so happy my daughter's still alive".

And since that that kind of statement couldn't be the last thing they shared in that elevator, Emma Swan took one last breath full of bravery, while Regina regally stood up, wore her Loubutins and took her binders in just a few seconds.

"You know, I suck at a lot of things. And one of them is that phase I told you about...the one where I was supposed to memorize the feeling when I was kissing you..."

A Savior had to be brave, after all.

"...so, I was thinking that, maybe...if you agree...I could, you know..."

A Savior had to be brave. Shyness was an extra bonus just to increase the tenderness.

Emma was approaching again to Regina's lips.

"...I mean...if kissing you was an option, I would kiss you again. I definitely would. To accomplish phase number two, of course. A Savior never leaves a mission unaccomplished".

The former mayor, _former evil queen_, smiled behind her pile of binders. "This is something you can't win, Emma Swan". Regina whispered those words really close to the blonde's lips.

A kiss. Dry lips touching lightly. Just for a second.

_Who kissed who_ was a question that would have remained forever without a proper answer.

Another one, equally brief. Equally dry. Just to capture her prey for a second and then let it go. Free.

In a few moments the doors a small crowd, leaded by the new mayor and her husband, also known as Emma Swan's parents, opened the elevator doors.

Hands grabbed Emma's arms and shoulders, voices started to invade the small space outside the elevator, where the Sheriff had been taken to.

Questions. A_re you alright, honey?_

Voices. _Sheriff, do we have to call an ambulance?_

Hands touching her. _Stop touching me, I'm fine!_

An undefined number of eyes were on the blonde sheriff, even if Emma's eyes were frantically searching the familiar figure of the person she shared the elevator with; she couldn't find her. Too many people around her, too many useless worries invading her space, her mind, her heart.

What Emma could possibly think about this whole experience shared with the adoptive mother of her son, it was still impossible to understand.

Panic and kisses.

Fights and kisses.

Kisses, and now nothing.

Four floors and 7 minutes from the first floor to the fourth, where Regina Mills' office was; with a little more concentration, and less words coming from the noisy crowd, Emma Swan knew that, closing her eyes, she could have heard the sound of Regina's stilettos walking away, step after step.

The irony of missing already the brunette made Emma almost smile.

Two years spent hating that woman, trying to stay as far as possible from her; every kind of effort fucked up by a couple of times in which Emma entertained herself saving the former mayor and a few moments shared in that elevator where kissing had become the only option to survive.

Emma Swan started that day hoping for some action, just to change her normal boring routine as a useless sheriff of a ghost town, and ended up hoping for some silence and a pair of lips touching hers. Regina Mills' lips, to be precise.

"Emma, are you alright?" Asked for the hundredth time David, without receiving an answer, again.

"Emma, I think you need some fresh air" her mother suggested, trying to let her statement be stronger than the fog of voices surrounding the blonde woman.

"Where's Regina?" The only thought Emma could articulate. Damn woman. Damn evil witch. Damn unforgettable kisser.

"She went away as soon as we opened the doors…we asked her if she was ok, but she gave us one of her looks and walked away…"

"Yeah, she walked away…" that was all an absent-minded Emma could repeat. Snow could only watch the blonde woman, trying to understand what kind of spell an Evil Queen without magic powers could have performed on her dumbfounded daughter.

But there was a single thing the Storybrooke Sheriff knew, and it was that once you go down, literally down - in the basement - you can only go up.

Literally up. Seven minutes away from there. To the fourth floor.

Where Regina Mills' office, also known as the _broom closet_ which had become the new working place of the former mayor and former Evil Queen, was.

And Emma simply ran.

_-tbc-_


End file.
